Remington Rand Bookkeeping Machine on Stand

After World War II, the office machine company Remington Rand invested heavily in the production of electronic computers, purchasing the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company in 1950 and delivering the first UNIVAC computer to the U.S. Bureau of the Census the next year. Meanwhile, Remington Rand continued to manufacture typewriters, adding machines, tabulating machines and products like this one, a bookkeeping machine.

The gray machine rests on a gray metal stand. At the front is a row of plastic tabulator keys numbered from 1 to 10, and two switches. Behind these is a row of digit keys numbered 1 to 9 and then 0. Behind these are a space bar and a typewriter keyboard. The square plastic keys have what appear to be paper stickers on them indicating numbers and letters. Behind the keyboard are five levers. There are two registers, each of which accumulates 10-digit totals. The machine has a wide carriage, a two-colored ribbon, and an electric cord.

A metal label on the object reads: REMINGTON RAND INC (/) MADE IN U S A..

Remington Rand Corporation merged with the Sperry Corporation in 1955 to form Sperry Rand.

Reference: Nancy Stern, From ENIAC to UNIVAC: An Appraisal of the Eckert-Mauchly Computers, Bedford, MA: Digital Equipment Corporation, 1981.

Currently not on view